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The High Life

Sunday 22nd September 2013

Up bright and early and what a glorious blue sky! I had two missions today, both suggested by Brits abroad: one (courtesy of Matt Lumby) was to visit The High Line and the other (courtesy of Danny Alexander) was to go see the USS Intrepid.

I walked through Greenwich Village, imbibing the sights and sounds and all the crap that travel memoirists are supposed to bang on about. New York is pretty much the place it is in all the movies and needs little in the way of introduction. Everyone you meet is from another corner of the world, which is fun for me – I can say I’ve been to that particular corner and it was great!

Although one day I’ll meet somebody from Greenland or Pitcairn Island and the wheels will come off that particular parade.

But until that day, I’ll still be the (Travel) King of New York.

Here’s a video I made of the High Line:

Good stuff, eh?

After that, I headed north, grabbed a greasy hotdog and clambered aboard the USS Intrepid, a MASSIVE aircraft carrier what looks like this:

The USS Intrepid. Being Intrepid

Oh yes. AND there’s space shuttle and a ruddy great big Concorde on board. How could I say no?

At 6pm everybody was turfed out of the Intrepid so it could get some sleep. I walked to Times Square because why the hell not. Oo! It’s being pedestrianised. The usual massive TV screens advertising Coca-Cola and Glee were present and correct, damn I’d like to be here for New Year to watch the ball drop.

Back to Monica’s on the subway (more on that tomorrow), a quick freshen up and then it was a short taxi ride to The Marcel Restaurant at the Gramercy Hotel for a meal with Nicole, my contact at CBS. Considering Mr. Colombia Broadcasting System was picking up the tab, the cheeky Scouser in me fancied the $72 sea-bass, but I refrained from going all out, instead opting for the roast suckling pig. Two slap-up feasts over one weekend in London and New York? Damn my karma level is going to be in the red after this…

Nicole, an avid traveller herself, was interested in picking my brains over where to go, what to do, how to stay safe and whether Couch-Surfing is a good Idea (the answer: yes it is). I need a job where I get paid to sit on top of a mountain in Nepal and dispense travel wisdom like some backpacking Yoda. Any takers?

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Graham Hughes is a British adventurer, presenter, filmmaker and author. He is the only person to have travelled to every country in the world without flying. From 2014 to 2017 he lived off-grid on a private island that he won in a game show, before returning to the UK to campaign for a better future for the generations to come.

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